科学美国人60秒 SSS 蜜蜂在日全食中沉默（在线收听）

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

Last summer's total solar eclipse sliced right through Columbia, Missouri. "It was remarkable. As a biologist I generally reserve that word 'remarkable' for biological phenomena." Candace Galen is based at the University of Missouri, in Columbia. And, being a biologist, she thought, why not use this astronomical phenomenon to study a biological one? Specifically: as the skies darkened, would daytime pollinators, like bumblebees and honeybees, call it quits? "What better activity during an eclipse than to go out with a recorder and record the bees? "

去年夏天的日全食发生时，密苏里州哥伦比亚市正好处于日全食带上。“那真是非凡的奇观。作为生物学家，我一般不用‘非凡’这个词来描述生物现象。”坎迪斯·盖伦就职于哥伦比亚市的密苏里大学。作为生物学家，她当时想的是：为什么不利用这一天文现象来研究生物现象呢？具体来说：随着天空变暗，大黄蜂和蜜蜂等日间传粉昆虫会停止工作吗？“在日全食期间，还有什么活动比带着录音机去记录蜜蜂的声音更好呢？”

So Galen asked 400 citizen scientists—including young students—to place audio recorders in 16 flower patches along the path of totality, in Oregon, Idaho and Missouri. When they analyzed the audio, they found that during partial eclipse, bee buzzing continued. But when totality hit, the bees went silent... and only the conversational buzz of human observers could be heard. Then, as the moon passed and the sun again lit up the sky, the bees regained their buzz. The full write-up is in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

因此，盖伦请包括年轻学生在内的400名公民科学家，在俄勒冈州、爱达荷州和密苏里州处于日全食带的16个花田中放置录音机。他们在分析音频时发现，在日偏食期间，蜜蜂的嗡嗡声还在继续。但是在日全食出现后，蜜蜂就沉默了，录音中只有人类观测者唧唧喳喳的谈话声。随后，在月亮移开、太阳再次照亮天空时，蜜蜂的嗡嗡声也再一次出现。完整的报告发表在《美国昆虫学学会年鉴》上。

Galen and her colleagues did notice one strange detail: the individual buzzes lasted longer than normal during the partial eclipse periods. Perhaps, Galen says, because the bees were flying more slowly to navigate darker conditions. Or maybe they were returning to their nests, thinking the day was through. It's hard to tell from the recording, she says. Which is why, come the next American total solar eclipse in 2024, she'll be back out listening once again. "I'm a scientist, my curiosity is never satisfied, right?"

盖伦及其同事确实注意到了一个奇怪的细节：在日偏食期间，蜜蜂个体嗡嗡声的持续时间比平常要长。盖伦表示，或许这是因为在较暗环境中蜜蜂要减慢飞行速度来确定方向 。或许是它们认为这一天已经结束，所以准备返巢。她说，这很难从录音中分辨出来。因此，在2024年出现下一次美国可观测到的日全食时，她将再次到户外聆听蜜蜂的声音。“我是科学家，我的好奇心永远不会满足，对吧？”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。